RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

And two firms - one in Plymouth and one in Nottinghamshire - were stripped of their right to operate ambulances because they were so dangerous.

Critics last night described the situation as a ‘horror show’ which is set to get worse as pressure on the NHS grows.

NHS ambulance services are increasingly reliant on private firms because they cannot cope with the soaring volume of emergency calls.

An investigation by the Daily Mail in January found the NHS is using private crews to attend hundreds of thousands of calls, including the most serious life-threatening emergencies.

They are usually used by hospitals to ferry elderly patients to clinics, but are increasingly used to attend 999 calls.

The Care Quality Commission said private ambulances are often dirty and unhygienic, staff are not always properly trained, and some drivers do not even hold the correct driving licences

Sir Mike said last night: ‘Providers have a responsibility to ensure the safety and appropriate treatment of the people within their care.

‘Having inspected around 20 per cent of the independent ambulance providers registered in England so far, we are concerned that some may be putting patients at risk.

‘Patient safety must be a priority at all times. Vehicles used to transport patients must be clean and fitted with the right equipment, staff must be appropriately trained and supported to carry out their roles effectively, and medicines must be stored securely and administered by staff trained to do so.’

He added: ‘We know there are some independent ambulance services doing all these things and providing very good care, but unfortunately, our emerging findings suggest that this is not always the case.’

He stressed the CQC would not hesitate to stop companies operating if problems were found.

Plymouth Central Ambulance Service lost its registration in December, after it was found to be employing people who were not qualified to drive with blue lights.

Records were not kept of the drugs given to patients and even those who were training new staff were themselves not properly qualified.

Common: An investigation by the Daily Mail in January found the NHS is using private crews to attend hundreds of thousands of calls - many of them life-threatening

Intrim Medical and Rescue Services in Nottinghamshire lost its licence in August 2015, after inspectors found it was using out-of-date medications and its ambulances lacked crucial equipment.

But Alan Howson, executive chairman of the Independent Ambulance Association, said the whole industry must not be tarred by a few bad examples. ‘We fully support the CQC in inspecting private ambulance companies - where they are not up to standard they must be identified.’

‘But I don’t accept there is a widespread problem. The ambulance companies they are picking up tend to be very small operators - most companies are doing very good work.’

The use of private ambulance firms is soaring as NHS trusts struggle to cope.

In London private crews attended 81,291 calls in 2015/16 - 6 per cent of all incidents - up from 56,177 in 2014/15.

South East Coast Ambulance Service used private firms for 112,493 incidents last year, 16 per cent of the total.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service use of private companies trebled from 10,862 in 2014/15 to 38,821 in 2015/16.

Critics say this is because of a drastic shortage of staff and soaring number of calls.

Some 5 per cent of paramedics jobs are vacant, with ambulances arriving late to more than a third of life-threatening emergencies. The number of these ‘category A’ calls received by ambulance control centres increased by 18 per cent in the last year.

Paramedics’ unions last night said the problems were symptomatic of the overstretched NHS.

‘The independent CQC has revealed a total horror show taking place on Jeremy Hunt’s watch – lack of basic hygiene, unsafe storage of medicines, poor equipment and no support for staff.

‘This push towards the privatisation of ambulance services has created a dangerous race to the bottom - and increased risks to those in need of care.

‘The public need reassurance that they will receive safe and effective care when they need it – not to have themselves living in fear, or put at risk by hazards caused by cost-cutting, profit-making providers.’

Christina McAnea, head of health at Unison, added: ‘Private ambulance firms are not the answer to the NHS’s problems. Yet faced with a lack of staff and a huge hole in their finances, NHS ambulance trusts are increasingly forced to rely upon them.’

Justin Madders, Labour’s shadow health minister, said: ‘The CQC have revealed an alarmingly high proportion of independent providers failing to meet basic standards in such important areas that have a major impact on patient safety.

‘NHS ambulance services which are under increasing pressure are turning more and more to private providers to share the load but they and the public need assurances that these other services are up to the same high standard we expect in the NHS.

‘In light of the CQC’s finding, Jeremy Hunt needs to instigate an urgent investigation into the use and practices in private ambulance services.’

A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘It is unacceptable for any ambulance services to fall short of the high standards we expect for patients and they should work immediately to resolve issues as they emerge.’

£18M WASTED TRYING TO SAVE CASH

Health bosses drawing up plans to close hospitals to save the NHS cash are splashing out millions on management consultants.

At least £17.7million – equivalent to 530 nurses’ annual salaries – has been paid out to firms including KPMG and PwC since last January, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show.

The Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) were launched last year and aim to cut costs by ‘reorganising’ services. They are expected to lead to the closure of dozens of A&Es, maternity units and smaller hospitals in England.

Dr Mark Porter, of the British Medical Association, said it was ‘outrageous’ so much was being spent on STPs when the NHS was at ‘breaking point’ financially. But NHS England said using outside help ‘occasionally makes sense’.